


Collected Peaky Blinders Metas

by Emjen_Enla



Series: Meta Archive [2]
Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Catholicism, Cocaine, Codependency, Drunkenness, Dysfunctional Family, Episode: s01e04, Episode: s01e06, Episode: s03e04, Episode: s05e03 Strategy, Episode: s05e06 Mr Jones, Execution, Fashion & Couture, Flat Affect, Grief/Mourning, Memory Loss, Meta, Misunderstandings, Mixed drinks, Nonfiction, Nuns, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Season/Series 04, Traumatic Brain Injuries, blame, drinking and driving, lying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29854878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emjen_Enla/pseuds/Emjen_Enla
Summary: An archive collection of Peaky meta that I originally posted on Tumblr. Archived to AO3 as part of the March Meta Matters Challenge. Posted in no particular order because I'm lazy.
Relationships: Polly Gray & Tommy Shelby
Series: Meta Archive [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2193525
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	1. Discussion of that "Am I forgiven?" line of Tommy's in 1x06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Summary:** A discussion of why Tommy takes the blame for Freddie being arrested.  
>  **Originally Posted:** September 15, 2020

**Reblog:**

**[A gifset of the scene in 1x06 where Tommy asks Ada if he's forgiven for "getting Freddie arrested."]**

**[Direct response to someone else's ramble tags, which, amongst other things, contemplated if Tommy didn't correct anyone because he didn't think they'd believe him or if he didn't want to admit that Polly and Ada thinking he would turn Freddie in hurt him.]**

**Me:**

The fact that [Tommy] apparently took the blame for Freddie being arrested is really interesting. I think it’s probably a bit of both of the things you suggest. He obviously has no idea what’s going on at the end of 1x04 which Polly apparently ignores. Maybe he did try to explain that it wasn’t him in between the end of that episode and the beginning of 1x05 and wasn’t believed so he just gave up, or maybe he never tried to protest in the first place? I can’t decide which is more like him. Also, yeah I can definitely see him trying to avoid admitting that the fact Polly and Ada thought he would do that hurt him.

The thing that really strikes me about this, though, is that there’s no indication that this misunderstanding ever gets cleared up, which means that he continues taking the blame for the whole thing even after Grace reveals herself as a traitor. He must have put two and two together and realized it was her, but apparently never says anything. The family (especially Polly) would have believed him if he told them it was Grace, but he doesn’t even when he thinks he’ll probably never see her again. That adds an interesting level to his relationship with Grace, especially when they’re reunited in s2. Also, given the fact that the family apparently just never talks about this again, I wonder if the subject of “yeah, I’ve just been letting my whole family think I sold my sister’s husband and former best friend out to the police and then had a change of heart all these years when really you were the one who sold him out” ever comes up between him and Grace (like, does Grace know the family still thinks it was him?).

Also, how does this relate to the end of s3 when the whole family gets arrested and they all think it was Tommy? Like, if it’s already been established that the family (especially Polly, who I’d argue is the only member of the family whose opinion Tommy really cares about) will believe he’ll do terrible things that hurt them because it’s convenient for him and then maybe have a change of heart and bail them out later, how does that affect the family dynamics going into 3x06 and afterwards in s4? Like, as far as I can tell, the whole family save Ada (and maybe Michael? Idk) believes that Tommy sold them out to the police in 3x06 (Arthur’s definitely forgiven him for it and probably so has John, but that’s different than saying they realize he had nothing to do with it). So under it all, there’s this “Tommy doesn’t care about us and will not hesitate to use us for his own ends” thing lurking in the whole family, probably exacerbated by the way he reacts to John’s death (ie by shutting down). That explains why he’s so sure there’s no way to fix what’s wrong with the family in 4x01, because he knows from experience that arguing that he didn’t do something they think he did doesn’t work and fixing the situation–-which worked with Freddie–-didn’t work here either so he doesn’t see a way out of it.


	2. Various Meta-Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Summary:** A collection of short observations. Like the drabbles of the meta world  
>  **Originally Posted:** Varies
> 
> Does this chapter violate AO3's rules for content? I guess we're going to find out!

**Ramble Tags (June 30, 2020)**

#time frames in this show are a bit odd at times 

#like in 5x03 how much time [is] in between the scene with jessie and the scene with lizzie? 

#because like he's absolutely wasted in that scene with jessie 

#but somehow he seems sober (or at least as sober as he gets in s5) in the scene with lizzie? 

#it makes me wonder whether those two scenes take place in the same night 

#it might make more sense if they didn't 

#but then again there's a list of other timing errors people have pointed out 

#so who knows 🤷

**Addition to a Discussion of Alfie's (lack of) Fashion Sense (May 23, 2020)**

The really cursed part of this whole thing is that once you acknowledge that Alfie _never_ wears his suspenders correctly the only logical explanation for the way they are in that scene [that he put them on that way deliberately] because apparently he likes the way he looks with his suspenders like that. The things you mentioned aren’t even the only things like this. The first couple times I watched the Tommy and Alfie scene in 5x06 I was confused by the bracelet Alfie’s wearing, until I realized that’s it _not_ a bracelet; its one of those armband things that keep your sleeves in place (I have no idea what these are called, I apologize). Alfie’s fashion sense (can you even call it this?) is ridiculous but also so perfectly in character I can’t imagine him dressing any other way.

~~It must drive Tommy nuts.~~

**Addition to a gifset of the end of the "5 for peace, 2 for truce, one abstention. Let's get on with the war.” scene in 4x02 (May 11, 2020)**

I find the way Tommy turns and runs at the end of this conversation very interesting. It says a lot about what his estimations of what peace in the family looks like in the aftermath of 3x06. He thinks the family will agree to work with him to defeat Changretta, but ultimately he still thinks him actually being part of the family again is impossible.

**Addition to a gifset/edit of Michael's s4 comment about Tommy falling apart without Polly (May 11, 2020)**

You know this takes on a whole different tone when you realize that Michael and Lizzie are the only ones who have been in close contact with Tommy in the last year. Michael knows exactly how badly Tommy is doing, and the fact that he thinks it’s likely Tommy will fall apart without Polly says a lot about how worried he is about Tommy. That’s a really strange realization in the aftermath of s5.

**Stand-alone post (May 2, 2020)**

Okay, can we take a moment to talk about that moment in 4x01 where Tommy makes a joke involving whiskey sours? In that scene he is drinking a mixed drink (presumably a whiskey sour based on context but I don’t know anything about cocktails so it could be anything), but does he ever drink one again? We know that he’s kind of thrown by May wanting something mixed into her drink in s2, but there are a number of years between s2 and s4 so maybe his tastes changed. Or maybe they didn’t and he’s just drinking whiskey sours now for appearance’s sake.

**Stand-alone post and self-reblog (January 18, 2020)**

_Post:_

Let’s be honest with ourselves people: it’s highly unlikely if not completely impossible that Tommy remembers attacking Father Hughes in 3x04, not with a head injury of that magnitude.

_Reblog:_

Actually now that I think about it, this probably means he and Polly never had it out about her accidentally tipping Hughes off about the assassination attempt. Tommy didn’t know about that until after he’d already gotten his skull smashed so he most likely doesn’t remember it. If the rest of the family doesn’t realize he has memory loss related to this incident (which I kinda doubt they do because its not like he’s going to admit to it), Polly probably thinks he’s just never deigned to address it and decided that if he’s never going to bring it up she won’t either.

**Reblog of a post about how the op doesn't think Tommy ever lies (January 4, 2020)**

I wouldn’t say I think Tommy doesn’t lie, but I do think he isn’t an amazing liar (or an amazing actor). My impression is that he gets away with most of his bullshit (like that time in s4 when Aberama Gold wants to buy Uncle Charlie’s yard) because he has flat affect (lack of emotional expression). This makes it difficult to judge whether he’s serious or not, so people assume he’s telling the truth even if he’s not. I’ll bet you anything he was a visibly bad liar before the war.

I do think he’s generally honest to the family, at least in that if he doesn’t want them to know something he just won’t mention it instead of lying. 

Ramble tags: #i think its fairly canon that his flat affect is a ptsd symptom #and that he was more expressive before the war


	3. On the "What's item number five?" scene in 5x06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Summary:** Thoughts on Tommy and Arthur's relationship and the scene in 5x06 where they kill Mickey.  
>  **Originally Posted:** December 24, 2019

**[Reblog of a gifset of part of a scene in 5x06 where Arthur rambles about Michael maybe being right and Tommy screams at him that there is no item 5, including someone else's ramble tags musing about Arthur's motivations in the scene.]**

**Me:**

I’m strongly in the “Arthur is trying to get Tommy to make his decisions for him” camp. One thing that struck me about s5 was the fact that Arthur is on the list of people who don’t acknowledge that Tommy is falling apart. A fair portion of the other characters do, whether with genuine concern (Ada, Jessie) or as a weapon (Michael), but Arthur doesn’t until 5x06 and even then he’s talking about how _he’s_ scared by Tommy’s behavior not about Tommy himself. I think this is very in character for Arthur because he needs Tommy to have all the answers and be able to solve things. Arthur doesn’t really know how to function without someone telling him what he should be doing and with Linda gone and that responsibility falls squarely back on Tommy who is increasingly incapable of dealing with it.

In this scene Arthur is outright begging Tommy to tell him what the next step is, because he needs to know that there’s a plan. He needs to know that Tommy knows what to do going forward. What’s so interesting it that Tommy eventually explodes and screams at him that there is no more plan. I think this is important because as far as I can recall this is the first time Tommy’s ever done something like this (you perhaps could make an argument for that scene in s2, but I don’t think that’s quite the same thing). One thing I think is interesting about Tommy and Arthur is what the fact that Arthur has spent years–-if not their whole lives–-abdicating his responsibility to Tommy, which has to put a degree of tension on their relationship. In this scene Tommy’s finally gotten to the point where he can’t handle Arthur’s neediness on top of his own issues, at least for the first time in s5, perhaps for the first time ever. This in turn throws Arthur off balance because he doesn’t know how to deal with Tommy not being completely in control and we get the cowering fear we see in the last gif above and at the end of 5x06.

**Ramble tags:** #it all comes back to the the shelby family is really dysfunctional point doesn't it?


	4. Tommy and John's death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Summary:** Thoughts on how Tommy ~~doesn't~~ react to John's death  
>  **Originally Posted:** October 23, 2019

**[Reblog of someone else's meta about why Tommy's reaction to John's death is different than his reaction to Grace's death.]**

I’m going to agree with this reading of Tommy’s reaction to John’s death. One thing that really struck me about s4 was that scene in 4x02 when Tommy and Arthur go to see John’s body. I thought that scene is probably the most concise example in the differences between how Tommy and Arthur deal with not just grief but emotional upheaval and trauma in general. Arthur is explosive and violent while Tommy is just…there. I think this dynamic goes on throughout the episode while they put together the Aberama Gold plot (Arthur seems to be completely in the know about the plan, which is unusual). Tommy has no trouble using John’s funeral as bait because he’s so numb it doesn’t feel like it matters, and Arthur goes along with it because he really wants to kill Luca Changretta.

I also agree with your analysis of the boxing arena scene where Tommy’s firing his gun at the ceiling and yelling about his brother being dead. I was very spoiled when I watched 4x06 so I knew Arthur wasn’t dead, but while I was watching it I was thinking, “I must have gotten the timeline confused, there’s no way Tommy knows Arthur’s not dead; he’s too worked up to be initiating the plot that’s going to solve the problem.” I mean, he literally almost collapses; Tommy doesn’t act like that unless he’s completely overwhelmed, especially not in public.

Yes, he could be acting, but I honestly don’t think Tommy’s much of an actor. Sure, he gets away with a lot of stuff, but I think that’s mostly because he doesn’t emote when he’s telling the truth let alone when he’s not, so you can’t tell if he’s lying to you because he has no tells. There’s a big difference between getting away with absolute bullshit because you can act like it’s not bullshit and getting away with absolute bullshit because you sound so serious everyone assumes you must be serious.

That’s why I think Tommy is legitimately freaking out during that scene in the boxing ring even though he knows Arthur’s not dead. Firstly, some of it is obvious the fact that Arthur almost died and that Tommy probably sees it as him almost getting another family member killed (because he didn’t listen to Arthur when he was insisting something was wrong). From the scenes in the episode, it's obvious there’s a period of time when Tommy really does think Arthur’s dead, so his emotions probably haven’t had time to catch up by the time he goes back to the ring.

Also, you could argue this is moment when he actually realizes John is gone. Like, logically he knows John is dead for the whole season, but I think you could argue this is the first time he actually feels anything about it. That’s why he’s so obviously worked up; his behavior is more of a delayed reaction to John dying than it is a ploy to convince people Arthur is dead.


	5. Wait...Where did that coke come from, Tommy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Summary:** Confusion about why Tommy has the cocaine that he blows into the nun's face in 5x03.  
>  **Originally Posted:** March 8, 2021 on Dreamwidth

Okay but why does Tommy have the cocaine in the scene in 5x03 with the nuns? He has canonically done coke before but it’s back in 3x04 when he’s, you know, literally dying (which is admittedly an awful plan on his part but you know what I mean). Other than that we don’t really have any indication that he particularly likes cocaine. This is especially true once you realize that the drugs he does canonically abuse (alcohol, opium, laudanum) are all downers, which tells us a lot about why he's abusing drugs to start with and gives us some indication of why he's not interested in doing cocaine.  
  
However, this does make the fact that he has the cocaine kind of confusing, because we know he's likely not taking it himself. I don't want to go the "likely SK just thought it would be badass if Tommy blew coke into a nun's face" route because that feels like a cop-out, but I can't think of a logical reason he would have a bottle of cocaine on him. Perhaps you really _could_ argue that he's taking it himself, but he's so anxious and paranoid the whole season I kind of doubt he would do something that would probably make that worse. Plus, given how explicit the show has always been about his drug use, I assume that if he was taking cocaine too, we would have seen him do it at some point. The only other thing I can think of is going the route [this (majestically done) fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13614324) did and saying that he has the cocaine because he confiscated it off another member of the family who does do coke and hasn't gotten a chance to dump it in the safe in the betting shop yet. That works decently well, but only if you ignore the fact that it's canon that Tommy doesn't try to stop Arthur from doing coke, just tries to stop him from taking it when there's nothing important going on.


End file.
